Indirectly asking for recommendations on what to watch.
The good place
oh dip
It’s such a good show, the ending is absolutely perfect.
It’s not just that the ending is perfect (though it absolutely is). It’s that at every point, in every season, when they could have chosen the easy, dumbed-down route for continuing the show, they… didn’t. They didn’t do that, and it’s hard to express what a difference that makes.
For example (without spoilers), the way season 1 ended set up, for a lesser show, an easy rehash for season 2, where the same characters get up to slightly different versions of the same season 1 hijinks.
Instead, the show runners packed that painfully obvious concept into the first half of the first episode of season 2, then moved right past it. They could have milked the concept for a whole season, but they didn’t want to. So instead they acknowledged it in the most hilarious possible way, then got on with the actual story.
Goddamn, now I want to watch it again. It’s just so good.
Thanks for the insight, it’s one of the few shows I’ve rewatched.
There’s an official podcast with the showrunners and the cast members where they do post episode discussions. It’s a great listen after watching an episode.
Michael Schur’s book is also on audible and quite entertaining. And it adds context to the next rewatch
The humor is great, writing and acting are top notch.
But it hit atheist me on a spiritual level and awakened a thing I didn’t think existed.
That’s pretty fuckin rad.
Agree.
Yes! That show melted my heart and soul.
Maximum Derek
Forking good show!
Schitts creek.
It was pushed so hard by Netflix when it first came out that I ignored it. Just seemed like an overdone rich fish out of water idea and I just wasn’t interested.
I finally got round to it when I think they did another promotional push. After watching it I basically forced every person I know to watch it and it is now a comfort show that I’ve watched a bazillion times.
But it is just so good.
As a Canadian, when it was first released I assumed it was being pushed so hard because it was Canadian content. Then when I got around to watching it I was so pleasantly surprised. My little maple syrup heart was so happy to see it recognized widely as the absolute gem it is.
Help me through this, because I watched the first couple seasons, maybe even the first three? To the point where the son opens up his own store.
I found it charming, quirky, and largely enjoyable. But then it just sort of felt repetitive? Like, I couldn’t see where the plot was going and the characters while enjoyable, I felt I’d enjoyed enough.
Is there a drastic uptick that I just needed to hold out for? Or at that point is the show pretty much what you sees what you get?
I think it’s one of the few shows I’ve ever watched with genuine character growth. A ton of shows will have a character grow and then walk it back, or don’t even bother. Schitt’s Creek didn’t turn them into Mary Sues - they’re still flawed but they also learn how to look outside their bubble.
If it’s not clicking for you after season 3, it may not be the show for you. A lot of people didn’t love the first season as it found its footing, but everyone I know that loved it was fully invested in season 2.
If David didn’t have an effect on you? Why the fuck are you ending statements with question marks?
😂
I see it as a stand-in for the inflection people sometimes make irl when seeking affirmation for what they’re saying. Imo, it’s not bad as a way to add tone or subtext (“I get this might be an unpopular opinion; what do you think?”), but it is not grammatically correct in a professional email
Yeah keep watching. David and the store is a big thing. The character arcs are worth it. Some very heartwarming stuff coming up with everyone.
Arcane, the animated League of Legends show on Netflix.
Oh MY GOD, every element is seriously SO mind-blowingly good. And imo its animation is at least as good as—if not better than—the Miles Morales Spiderman movies… though they did spend six years working on it tbf.
And to be clear, while I’m vaguely familiar with LoL, I’ve never played it so I had zero emotional connection to any of the characters before watching.
Be prepared to cry though. Like the loud, punched-in-the-gut, ugly sobbing kind of crying.
Best thing to happen to the “manic pixie dream girl” trope. When you meet Powder, she’s a sweet, but traumatized, little girl. All you want to do is stand between her and the things that are hurting her so she can just grow up and be normal.
And then you see her become this hurting, angry, and above-all disturbed person who’s been broken by everything she’s been through, and it effing hurts. Suddenly rather than an adolescent fantasy, she’s a real person you care about who’s been driven to madness by circumstances she had very little control over.
Check out Blue Eye Samurai, it’s got similar vibes to Arcane and is just as amazing.
I’ll move it to the top of my list!
Since I rate everything I watch for now a about 4 years, I can confirm. Arcane is one of 5 Series with 10 out of 10. (With 200+ rated items)
Would recommend 100%
I avoided Bojack Horseman for years because I thought it was going to be like so many other edgy adult cartoons. I thought I knew what it was going to be like. I was so wrong.
I came here to recommend BoJack. Especially after that moment in the middle of Season 1, it’s a masterpiece.
Only show I’m afraid to re-watch because of how it made me feel.
The show is also unique for me in the sense that IMO the later seasons were the best, this making it a series that actually gets better and better over time.
Ted Lasso is a great stepping stone to get into soccer and also throughout its 3 seasons a great, empathetic critique of toxic masculinity and how racism, homophobia and narcissism affect individuals and groups. The writing, the characters, both the villains and the team members are well written and incredibly funny. One of my favourite shows I didn’t expect really like.
Cougartown is also very funny, I loved Community and had seen Abed reference the show several times before finally watched Cougartown. Lots of clever gags and jokes, well thought out, flawed characters with interesting dynamics and (mis)adventures.
I have zero interest in football but Ted Lasso is a must watch for anyone.
Yeah, it really doesn’t have all that much to do with football at all lol, more of a plot device than an actual theme.
Bill Lawrence is just really, really good at writing authentic relationships.
I hold the controversial opinion that Cougartown is actually better than Scrubs.
TL 1 was a lot of fun.
The Wire. Everyone always ranted and raved about it. And I was like “no way it’s that good”.
It’s better.
Just about to start a rewatch of The Wire for the first time in 14 years. Gonna be great!
Hell yeah dude. Enjoy!
Yessss, I am rewatching it right now and it’s been long enough that I can’t believe how good it is… again.
Halt and Catch Fire.
Computers aren’t the thing. They’re the thing that gets us to the thing.
Seconded. This show was far better than I ever expected.
This is the only show in this thread that I agree was epic. The others were just meh to me.
Yep, good stuff.
Yes! God this show is underrated. They got bit by the “oh look it’s another Mad Men” stamp in season 1, but then the show pivots in season 2/3 and becomes something unique and special. And then I spent season 4 with a tissue box nearby. One of my favourite shows of all time.
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If you enjoy the humor in this show check out Norsemen. Totally different premise, but very similar dry humor with a lot of jokes and situations that are funny on multiple levels.
I love What We Do In The Shadows, it is hilarious. I could watch Colin Robinson drain people all day!
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The series is great as well. I was reluctant because the film is so perfect and I didn’t want it to get draged out and repetitive. They did exactly that but still they managed to keep it super funny with great new vampires.
Moon. Extremely underrated Sci-fi movie
Vera. Excellent British detective show
I love Moon! Such a fantastic sci-fi movie. I always suggest that one to folks looking to watch one.
The Expanse, people keeps recommending it and I kept ignoring it thinking it was the Extant. I hope it gets picked up again.
Just finished the last season of For All Mankind yesterday and it can be seen as a sort of prequel to The Expanse.
The actor who played Alex Kamal was fired for being a creep I think, so I doubt it’ll come back. But there are more books to enjoy on wich the series ist bases.
They made a season without him. For the last three books they could just recast everyone, they’re set 30 years after what was covered by the show.
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This for sure.
I kept putting it off, then watched it all in one go when I finally managed to get through the 1 and 2nd episodes i think.
Better call Saul. I avoided it at first but then dared myself to watch it when Netflix was getting real skimp on its shows. Loved it.
It’s better than the original because Breaking Bad wandered around a lot [remember the shoplifting arc that never developed]
This one was laser focused from the start.
I finally finished the last season in Jan. It was very satisfying and gave my heart a few scenes to freak out about. Knowing who we haven’t seen in BB and that this was the last season, I was concerned about some of the characters. I think that’s why I ended up taking a break between the 2nd to the last and last season.
No spoilers.
You-know-who deserved better, and Gus and Mike did him dirty.
Honestly, yes. It took me a minute to realize who you meant. Hah. That was one of the check your pulse moments. A lot of people got some wrong, but I guess that’s the price of doing business. I was happy with the last few episodes of tying up story lines.
[spoilers]
What you realize is that he knows that Mike is out there, watching.
He’s putting on the performance of his life.
Also, the two ‘girl friends’ were hllarious.
I’m with ya. I loved BB. Thought, nah, Saul was annoying as fuck. Then it happened. Watched and got pulled in. It’s good stuff.
Might be a bit controversial, but I really enjoyed sense8.
I’m still salty about that cancellation.
Sense8 is a total shitshow, and I love it!
Battlestar Galactica. I sort of knew about it in a vague sense and once I finally watched it was pretty impressed
I recently saw a few scenes again and realised I had forgotten how good it was. All because of the deeply disappointing ending.
Breaking Bad. I heard I’m not the only one who started watching it and gave up after the first 2 or 3 episodes that were just setting the scene at a fairly slow (boring) pace. Someone had to convince me to push through them because it gets so much better. It does.
Better Call Saul is also spectacular. In fact, I might go so far as to claim it’s better than BB…
In my opinion it is the best written show in history. It has a succinct arc and every character is there on that arc for a reason. It ended when it should and kept true to the story the entire time.
I think it took me 3 attempts before it took hold.
I had a chance to read the pilot pitch script for Breaking Bad and it was one of the best I have ever read. Was the reason I started watching the show in the first place.
Dark on Netflix. I had started it once and gave up after 2 episodes, but came back years later and finished it. It’s now one of my all time favorite time travel stories. Lots of big, cascading mysteries kind of like Lost, but the ending was so satisfying!
Oh man. I loved it. The complexity made me feel smart and I absolutely loved how everything tied together in the end. At one point I was certain they had over convoluted the story and there was no way they were going to make it coherent again, but I was wrong.
You both might want to check out 1899.
Same production company and one of the main character actors is from Dark.
Should feel familiar even if you dont like it as much.
I loved 1899, I knew it was the same couple that did Dark and watched it right when it cam out and then 2 days later heard it was canceled wtf 😾
Netflix has performance anxiety. Just can’t finish good projects sometimes
I can’t recommend dark enough.
DUDE! You, me and literally EVERY SINGLE PERSON I know that watched it, bailed after an episode or two, but every one of us came back to it and all were blown away. So weird.
One of my favorite show from the last 10 years, if not last 40 years
